Uneven Coverage and Blank Spaces: Bringing the State Back In

Abstract

Studies on digital Asia tend to cluster around certain interrelated core strands, which has led other topics to be largely overlooked, one of which is the state. Scholars neglect the state to their detriment. First, the article shows that the state is not a monolith but, rather, a venue for contesting and debating different concerns, in which various interests collide and various actors seek to gain influence. Second, the article claims that, to a significant degree, the state can create and shape the landscape within which other actors conduct their affairs. It does not do so in a vacuum but often in response to particular mobilized social and economic concerns. This contribution mostly focuses on China, but its findings – as the concluding section discusses – also apply to other countries in Asia and worldwide.